Guilt, Betrayal, and Ascension
by c.ass-kicker
Summary: Everything Danny loves is in ashes as a swirl of emotions appear to torment him. Backstory on Dark Danny, will contain a few OC's later later later in the story. As true to the series and the timeline as I could make it. K for mild mentions of death.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

"I- I-I can explain…"

His words trailed off, leaving him unable to convince even himself that he could possibly offer a good enough excuse to get out of the trouble he was in for. Suddenly, he wished he could tell his parents why he hadn't had the chance to study, but the day he would reveal his identity seemed farther off than ever. The Fenton Stockades all of a sudden looked pretty comfortable.

"Well then, would you mind telling your parents and I what could have possibly possessed you when you stole the answers?" His teacher spoke sternly, holding up the boy's test answers.

He looked up at his parents shocked faces then back at Lancer and could feel himself sweating immediately. It was an accident! I didn't plan on getting them! They were stuck to my back after the explosion! Danny tried his hardest to say those words but in the end just couldn't. He pictured himself saying it, but nothing came out. Lying about his ghost hunting activities was one thing, but lying about a test was another. Even if his ghost powers were the cause of the mess.

"Not only am I concerned about what this means for any career Danny may want to pursue later on, but cheating could lead to other more criminal acts in the future." The teacher said blankly.

"Mr. Lancer, I see where you're coming from on the subject, but are you implying that my son may grow up to be a criminal?" His mother objected.

"Now, now Mrs. Fenton. I believe that steered down the correct path, Daniel can have success in his life, but whether or not he is willing to do it, I'm not sure of. But seeing as his exceptionally well-guided sister did, I have no doubt that Danny could have done very well on the test."

"B-but Mr. Lancer! Danny has other activities! You can't be saying that you can't give her another shot!" His sister blurted out almost as freaked as Danny was about his secret identity. Her brother was always under constant pressure, but cheating on a test was crossing the line! His powers weren't meant for his own gain.

"I'm sorry Ms. Fenton, but it is impossible to retake the test. I am going to have to flunk him."

"Danny!" His two friends said smiling walking over to the party standing in front of the Nasty Burger.

"Guys? What're you doing here?" He asked with a hint of dread slipping into his voice.

"Nothing much." The girl answered. "But Tucker got paranoid about the sauce tank and it was my parents family night or tagging along, and you could say I jumped at the chance. What're you doing? Wait. Mr. Lancer?"

"Mr. Fenton here can not talk right now Ms. Manson. He in is more trouble than he can dig himself out of at the moment.

"Wait. Danny. You cheated didn't you?"

"Well…yeah…but I got to deal with my parents and Lancer right now so I'll talk to you guys later…"

"There's massive amount of radiation coming from the Nasty Sauce tank!" The techno-geek shouted cutting into the conversation.

"So?" Danny questioned.

"Dude! It's gonna explode!"

"Haha relax! I took care of it earlier!"

The boy waved it off at his words and chuckled a bit, despite the subject.

"No man, look! This is normal level, this is overheated, and this is its breaking point." Tucker said pointing at each object on his PDA with that stylus. The meter showed a bleeping warning sign and an estimated time of detonation which Tucker had unconsciously covered with his thumb.

"Ms. Manson, Mrs. Foley? I'm sure Danny appreciates you two trying to get him out of this, but this is a very serious matter." His overweight teacher said blankly.

"Well this one's even more serious!"

As his friend tried to persuade the teacher to let them take a look at the tank, a blue whisp shot from Danny's mouth turning him in the direction of the box ghost and another being racing after it leaving only a red blur.  
"Uh…can I be excused?"

"You most certainly can not young man!" Maddie Fenton scolded.

"Thanks!" He ducked over to the alleyway, and shouted his battle cry a little softer than normal closing his eyes as he became a ghost-powered negative of himself. He crouched then shot up towards the sky letting the wind hit him in the face.  
"Haha. You? Look dude. I am SO not in the mood for this, so if you wouldn't mind just getting the thermos we can get this over with." Phantom pointed the thermos at the foe sucking it into the small prison more swiftly than normal and capped the container to silence the obnoxious voice known as the box ghost.

"It's the ghost kid!" Danny looked down from his victory to see he was floating right in front of his ghost-hating dad holding up a small ecto weapon that he probably snuck out of the house.

"Jack, we have more important matters to attend to." His wife muttered turning him around to face her sons teacher.

"W-why don't we go inside?" She said in an attempt to distract her husband. "I'm sure no one will mind…we'll be sure not to touch anything right hon?"

"I see the apple….doesn't fall from the tree." The teacher muttered as Mrs. Fenton fiddled with the Nasty Burger lock and broke themselves in.

Mr. Lancer, Sam, Tucker, and the Fenton family besides Danny sat down on a small table as Mr. Lancer placed a small briefcase for them all to see.

"Now what puzzles me is how he got them. They have been locked in here and have never left my sight. Impossible to get steal, unless, his parents have something that can give a person "ghost like" abilities?"

"Hahaha…No Mr. Lancer. Humans can't have ghost powers!" Said the woman who was ½ responsible for her own son attaining such powers.

Jazz began to grow a bit scared for her brothers secret and clenched her jaw, looking over to Sam and Tucker near the sauce tank and unable to help her protect her brothers secret.

***

"Well…that was easy." Danny said shaking the thermos around. "Oh no. The conference!" He flew at the Nasty Burger to look for a proper place to change back when he was shot out of the sky by a missle hitting him square in the back. He panted and shook a little as he made his way to his feet, not surprised to see the one floating above him.

"Phantom."

"Valerie." He repeated in the same cold tone.

"Look. I really don't have time for this, so I'll just be going on my way and-"

"Not on your afterlife ghost."

"Come on! You have things you have to do! So do I! You don't see me messing with your personal life do you?" He chuckled.

"Actually, I DO!"

A blast rushed at Danny who had only managed to walk a few feet away. He turned back around to stare at the Huntress and the death stare he was probably being given from behind her mask. He lurched forward and hit the ground crippled again from the cheap shot.

"I'm offering peace, okay?" Danny said getting onto his feet and cracking his back. "I just have important thing I have to do, then you can come try to waste me later, okay?"

"Like wasting the Fentons?." Valerie yelled shooting him.

***

"Guys! We've got to get out! This thing is gonna blow in seconds!"

"Mr. Foley, Ms. Manson, that is enough. I understand you care about your friend but the adults need to."

"You can talk all you want later! We've got to get out of here!"

As if on cue, the giant vile of secret sauce began to whistle through the pipes and let heat rise all over the room. Tucker and Sam stared in horror as the meter flew off hitting the picture of the Manager fall to the floor and crack. They all stared at the sauce and ran to the front exit only to be stopped by a huge crashing noise. As they all uncovered their faces they looked to realize that their only open exit had been obliterated and rubble had fallen all over making escape nearly impossible.

***

"Oh no. Mom. Dad? Sam, Tucker, Jazz?" He shouted as his ecto-blast sealed them in.

"Missed me again Ghost!"

"Look, I'm not trying to hurt you!"

"Well neither am I!" Valerie said shooting several rounds bazooka.

Danny formed an ecto-shield around him blocking all the attacks the vengeful girl shot him, still trying not to break his pace to get back to Nasty Burger only to be shot in the back once again and thrown to the ground. Saving the pain for later he phased through the rubble and catching up with those inside. Crippled and ready to cry in pain, he reached out his right hand to and save them. Like a slow motion scene, the girl who he had never admitted his feelings about reached out for him too, but never to connect. Danny watched as his sanity began to fade away along with everyone he ever truly cared for.

-  
Hate it? Love it? Never want to read it again? Pls comment and tell me what you think or anything I can make better =)


	2. Chapter 1 Denial

**Chapter 1:**

As if fate wanted the filthy ghost to be caught, her engines exploded with power and speed as she raced after her enemy. "Get back here ghost!!"

Although her rocket board was made to be fast enough to catch any spook, Phantom had too much of a lead on her. Her eyes widened larger than she thought possible, pupils growing smaller in contrast as more horror than any child should ever witness was played in front of her eyes. The Phantom gained and gained, making the short battle scene feel like a drawn out scuffle. More panicked than ever, and also knowing that it would not help any, she cried out anyways, perhaps to not feel as helpless as she was and knew herself to be compared to the super-powered beings.

"STOP!"

She stepped on the back of her board and pulled back, getting as much traction on the air as possible and pulled an insanely large ghost weapon off her back. Her aim almost as good as her skill in karate, the hunter locked on perfectly when the ball of ectoplasm she despised used all he had left of his energy to propel himself faster than his powers allowed in the final countdown of seconds. Surprised by the change in speed, she instinctually, she pulled the trigger, and with the recoil from the powerful weapon plus the explosion that followed, the teen was blasted into the glass of the business building across the street. She covered her face from the debris letting her miss fire hit a nearby tree eventually adding to the wreckage.

"No…no….Phantom…he…NO!"

Failure. That's all that sprung into her mind. The people, the city she swore to protect, she let everyone down.

Her limp body fell to the ground following sparkles of glass that rained from the sky. She laid her head down until the tinkling of the specks hitting the ground ended, covering her face from the shards.

"I always knew he was nothing but a putrid ghost." She thought quietly. "Save the world my butt! I should've known straight away what he was after as soon as he took the Fenton's battle suit! They were just too much of a threat and he wants them dead…I hope Phantom is satisfied…he got his stupid wish…"

----

The voice of the one she wanted to hear the most came from close but so weak it felt like it was miles away. "It's all my fault…all because I-" It broke off and was choked up by the tears she could only imagine Danny having.

"Power? It's a burden isn't it child?"  
His head snapped up from his sulking at the sound of the hoarse voice.  
"The power isn't the burden, it's how I use it!"

Weak in the knees no less, Danny reached for the remainders of the wall to prop himself up. Gasping for air, he ran into the flaming building.  
"-and I've been using them poorly lately…"

The boy looked around as quickly as possible, dashing in all directions calling out the names of his loved ones. Carefully, yet as quick as possible, he knocked over promising chunks of wall and ceiling off the floor to unbury his family. Leaning on the charred and destroy counter, he fell onto the top, wrestling for consciousness. As the oxygen drained from the room and his lungs, his eyes drooped lower and lower until his weight completely fell on the remnants of where he ordered his burger the week before.

---

"Mom? Dad?"

The teen looked up into white abyss, completely filled with joy and happiness. The halfa's parents walked slowly, parting from him, turned in the opposite direction slowly moving away. At the sound of his voice, the figures stopped and looked at themselves, devoid of any emotion, then finished walking.

"Mom….? Dad….?"

He blinked slowly, watching the light fade to black. The hybrid stood up slowly lost in the nothing. No sight, no sound…its was his own personal torment. He turned, sensing a strong presence approaching. No, he could never sense the strength of another ghost, but he could always feel death coming. He could feel the pumping of his core, the steps it took, the shape of it…

As if that one figure was the only thing that mattered, that _existed_ he stared at it, the forms shadow so acutely encrypted into his mind he shuddered. All was black, the only light coming from behind the figure, shut out like it was being suppressed. Death's eyes opened sharply, revealing red without a twinkle or shine of life, eyes concealing death and pain.

The figure invited him in and comforted him in a dark type of way. Welcoming and soothing him, wordlessly explaining that everything would soon be all right, and that he would soon assume his rightful place in the worlds.

His eyes opened to nothing as he fell through the black, the figure leaning over the edge of invisible hole.  
"You'll see me soon." Was imprinted into his mind as he continued to fall into nothing.

---

"No! Don't drop me! I-"  
The boy sat up in bed and scratched his head groggy. "that was one heck of a dream…more like a nightmare. I've never been so happy to be awake." Danny said to himself somberly, slowly looking around the strange room.

He winced at the painon the back of his head "I must've just gotten in another ghost fight…darn it! I can't remember a thing!" After judging the drop to the floor from the bed carefully, he stepped slowly onto the cold tile, not in any more pain than a normal ghost fight, and definitely not one to land him in the hospital. Compliments of Tuckers phobia and his friends protecting his secret, and his fast healing ability, he had never had to be fixed up in a hospital. Instantly cheered by the thought of his friend, he put slippers on and began to walk towards the door, taken aback by how dizzy he was. He shut his eyes and dizilly walked back to the bed to rest again before he looked for answers. The halfa rubbed his head and noticed a box full of get well cards and candies overflowing onto the small chair it sat on. He reached over expectantly and rummaged through the cardboard box labeled with his last then first name.

"Tuck would love this! There's even one from Paulina!" He let his arm droop to his side looking over at his gifts at began to inspecting every card. Disappointed, he sighed and took a chocolate bar, catching the glance of a nurse passing in the hallway.

She looked at him full of sadness and concern and pushed the trolly into the room. "Would you like some food son? Spaghetti…chicken soup…"

"I-I'm all right…thanks though."

"Nonsense! A growing boy needs to eat!" The woman reached over and pulled out a mechanical table which slowly turned until it made its way in front of Danny, who she could clearly see had something bugging him. She dropped a plate of lasagna on the table and placed a carton of juice along with appropriate silverware in their places too.

"There. Now you eat up!"

Danny looked at the food, hardly content, but sat the chocolate down anyways in exchange for a fork, looking up at the expectant nurse shyly.

The larger-than-not woman sat smiling at him urging him to take a bit. Not even hungry, the teenager took a nbble anyways.

"W-wait...Um…I was wondering if you could tell me if my parents stopped by?"

The nurse dropped her smile into one of regret as her eyes looked around the room, a subconscious hope of finding anything that she could find an answer in.  
"I don't believe they have, son, but I know that they love you and would give anything to be here with you if they could."

She turned silently and began to load trash under the cart preparing to leave.

"W-what about my friends? Have they been here?"

The woman looked at Danny and sat on his bed taking his hand up in her own. "Daniel…"

The boy looked up at her expectantly, letting his sparkling blue eyes do all the talking. He inhaled preparing for the worst as the nurse pulled a copy of the "Amity Times" from underneath the box then unclenched his hands, placing the newspaper securely in his hands.

"A paper?"  
Danny unfolded the newspaper and stared at the headline. He laid down comfortably and stared silently at the ceiling.

"Are you all right Danny?"

He ignored her and let his face fall another time and flipped the page. "Phantom to blame?" He stated reading off the caption beneath his picture.

"The sole witness of the tragedy, Valerie Grey, remembers seeing the ghost hero hanging around the premises then charging into the establishment, and seconds later causing the explosion. Danny Phantom is now wanted for questioning, and was announced this morning by the vice president that 'even more money than ever is going to be divided into the Governments ghost hunting team "Guys in White" to prevent future ghostly tragedies.'"

He froze, biting off the last word and pushing the mobile table over to the other side of the bed, blurrily watching as small dots appeared on the white blanket as tears slowly fell from his eyes. His face not yet accepting the fact, tears flowed faster every second, leaving his face unchanged. As if the picture on the wall ahead of him had some special significance, he stared at, completely devoid of all thought and movement, except the sadness that he could not stop flowing from his eyes. The nurse held his hand silently as the boy's expression fell through. He yanked his hand back and grabbed a nearby pillow to hide in. Suppressing his whimpers and weakness, he felt his eyes suddenly glow his almost natural green in anger for something he had no comprehension of.


	3. Chapter 2 Afflicted

**Thank you so much Obi!! I nearly cried in happiness when you reviewed! Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!**

**Disclaimer:**

"I own Danny Phantom!!!"  
*Full time superhero Danny drops me off in jail*  
"Aww...I was kidding! Fun Danny!!!!"

* * *

**Chapter 2:  
**

The nurse silently and wheeled the cart out of the room keeping hes smirk to herself, peeking around the corner, following her gaze until she was completely alone.

"I thought I made it clear you were only going to ask him questions."

The old woman turned, shrinking down to a pudgy grey haired man as he greeted the familiar voice.

"I couldn't let all that misery go to waste! But I did get the information you wanted."

The woman pulled down her sun glasses slightly to look at her small assistant and smiled with no ounce of good intent behind it.

"-And?"

"He's really lost them all. No clever tricks, no last second intangibility, as if you really couldn't tell with all the depression that leaked from his [I]dreams[/I]!"

Mentally agreeing, the woman smiled with even more hate.

"It's almost sad…poor freak…I guess it's time for a little therapy session."

The teenager looked up from his pillow unaware of his enemies laughing in triumph just down the hall, listening to the bleep of his heart rate monitor counting each thump, focused completely on his chest, as a random thought from nowhere popped into his head.

_"Does my core beat the same way?"_

His chest went up and down with each breath he took, each one his family wouldn't. But why?

Angry with himself, the halfa's, bright green eyes blazed as the accident played out in his head. The emotional pain hit him like a brick in his face, tightening his grip on the bed railing. In a flash of light, the halfa's normal ghost attire appeared to match his supernatural eyes which glanced over at the flatline. Slightly smirking, he knocked himself free of the cords and wires attached to him as his ghost sense dragged his attention to his unwanted visitor.

The hunter known as Skulker phased into the room and looked at the halfa strangely for a half of a minute occasionally floating around him as if to get a better look.

"So it's true."

The halfa clenched his teeth and looked up at Skulker angrily, a greenish light beginning to shine in his hand.

"You really _did_ waste them." The enemy muttered.

The ecto blast in the boy's hand fired at his words, concocted from his determination and pain allowing it to be more powerful than normal but worse in aim, shattering the wall to the outside of the hospital crumble. Completely shocked of the boy's raw power and determination, plus his own inability to have assessed the situation, Phantom flew up from below him and smacked him out of the 30 story building. The boy followed the force of gravity and his own attack and flew downwards in sync with his enemy, before pulling up as to not destroy the asphalt along with him.

The hunter looked up in anguished and growled. "So that's what you've let it do to you?"

"The only thing I've let happen to me is-"

"Don't let your emotions control you whelp." The ghost cut in. "It'll be your downfall."

"-and whether you know it or not, emotions, are your greatest weakness."

Danny grabbed his head and stumbled for a second until the horrible laugh of a maniac infiltrated his head. It was unlike any ghost he had met before. Even the ghost [I]king[/I]. It was cold and violent, yet so strong and familiar it wouldn't leave his mind.

He took a defensive position slowly as ecto energy began to form in his hands. The voice urged him silently to finish the defenseless ghost, but in defeat the boy dropped his hands and faced the being.

"Danny Phantom doesn't hurt anyone. He saves them…" After realizing his thermos was gone he sighed and looked at the hunter pitifully and added. "Go…"

The hunter pulled himself to his feet before the child and raised his right arm, punching several buttons into it. His attention turned to the portal that appeared beside him and left without another word.

Looking at the damage his attack had done, Phantom floated outside the hospital staring at the humungous hole leading into his room. Happy to an infinite extent that he was given a private room, the teenager closed his eyes to turn back as nurses rushed into the room and stared at him with anger in their eyes as they found the boy missing.

The halfa raised his arm in surprise as his back was blasted by a pink blast. Zapped of his strength from his emotional breakdown, he fell backwards flipping through the air and fell next to the hole where Skulker had laid seconds before. He stared up at Valerie hovering over him and thought of all the irony the situation had brought forth.

The beaten boy forced himself to sit upwards against all the bones he could imagine would be broken once he turned human again. "Valerie! You have to listen to me!"

The ghost hunter pulled off her mask and locked onto the ghost boy, devoid of all emotions.

He looked up waiting for the blast as seconds ticked by until the powerful blast struck him following what the hunter believed would be the last words he would ever hear.

"You can't fool me this time Danny Phantom."

-----

**A/N:** Lol The Spectra idea came outta nowhere but it was the perfect way to depress poor Danny so I had to add it.

Mega short and under-edited chapter, sorry! The next one should be longer ;)


	4. Chapter 3 Nightmare

The orphan looked upwards from his hospital bed and stared at the ceiling as if it held something significant for what could be hours for all he knew. The nurses were walking in and out of the doorway, moving various items and machines so they could transfer Danny to another room, or so they said. The battle ended a bit rough, but nothing intangibility couldn't fix. The nurse from before pushed in a wheelchair and smiled at the sight of the nervous halfa. As silently as he had remained for the past 15 minutes, he pushed himself onto the floor and crossed his arms as he was rolled out of the room.

"You're upset?"

Danny moved his head slightly at the nurse's words and pouted. "What makes you say that?"

"Oh it's quite obvious really. The stuck out lip, the silence, the _misery-_"

"The what?

"Nothing." The ghost smiled out of panic and let it turn into an evil smirk.

"…I bet you let them die didn't you?"

Danny stared gaping in front of him and growled. "I didn't let them die."

"Well of course you did! The pathetic _lo-_ser couldn't save his family. Unless you were the one who killed them in the first place."

The halfa turned around in the chair and glared at the green eyed nurse, too emerged in anger to notice the change as she continued. "Oh you were weren't you!"

"Got tired of them? Can't blame you. After all, they're related to you, and if they were willingly your friends, the deserved what they got."

The halfa stuck his right foot in front of the wheel chair and grinded it to a complete halt. A flash of green energy hit the nurse and sent her flying across the empty hallway and Phantom following up with a follow up attack and smacking the woman in the jaw. The ghost boy stood in front of the nurse as she shrunk into Penelope Spectra's assistant Bertran.

"What kid? No annoying witty banter?"

"No. Not today."  
The ghostly assistant got blasted into the wall leaving a huge dent where his body fit perfectly into and was beaten into it harder by the boy's ecto blasts.

"You get smarter when you're evil kid. It suits you, honest!"

Phantom stared at the man and shot continuous blasts where he was. "I am NOT evil!"

No time to turn intangible, the ghost covered himself and growled. "You're not? Sure looks like it kid. Why don't you tell it to your parents you wasted."

Bertran's cool words struck Danny hard in the chest as if his breath was taken away in human form. His grabbed the air violently and led him to nearly shoot Bertran out of existence only to be stopped by the ghost's boss.

She leaned over Danny's shoulder, catching his wrist in the air and spoke in a sweet yet manipulative voice. "Now Danny, if you destroyed him what would that prove? Only the ghost zone rumors as true of course!"

She flung the halfa's arm away from herself and smiled.

"Rumors?"

"Everyone knows you killed them Danny. We all knew you had it inside you, just like all ghosts!"

"I'm nothing like ghosts!"

"Of course you are kid!" Phantom's skull hit the floor as he stared up at the huge cougar standing over him pushed his face up in his own.

"You can't just have ghost powers without having the same mind-set. It just doesn't work that way."

"No! I'm not a ghost!"

Spectra rolled her eyes. "He's still in that denial phase."

"Looks like."

"You can't blame others for your mistakes. But then again, not having such filth hold you down, you could go places."

"Don't call them that!"  
Danny wrestled to get up from Bertran's hold but was smacked back down immediately.

Spectra walked over and kicked his head away from her "Relax Danny. You have no one to blame but yourself for that explosion. Unless there was some _other_ half ghost you'd like to blame?

The halfa relaxed his muscles below Bertran and closed his eyes letting the noise fade to silence as the anticipation grew for the misery leeches.

The glaring teenager fell through the floor and almost simultaneously hit Bertran onto the ground as he phased through the ceiling. The shape-shifter whined in pain as he turned back into his normal, short self and fell unconscious. His boss's efforts proved futile too as the ghost boy they had just teased knocked her right beside her assistant and flew through the ceiling. "I'll prove it wasn't me. I have a pretty good idea who's behind this."

The woman pushed herself upwards and turned until she was sitting on the floor, slightly hunched backwards. "You dolt. Get up."

Her assistant whined and painfully did the same.  
"I don't get it. Why wasn't he miserable?"

"He was. It was just pushed way too far."

"What does that mean?!"

Spectra looked at the trashed hallway and relieved herself of her attitude for a serious reply.

"He could really hurt someone. We have to warn the others."

"After making us scout out the kid and making us miserable? Not a chance."

The woman remained quiet as she took in her assistants words.

"Not in this case…Danny is dangerous."

Shocked at his boss calling the freak by his name Bertran opened his mouth to speak but sensed the situation and remained quiet as Phantom flew miles away…

"I should've known…who else would want dad dead!"

Danny rubbed the back of his head where he hit the floor and let his eyelids droop a bit.

"What am I missing…?"

The wind gently pushed through the boy's hair as he flew high above the town he swore to protect, slowing to a halt as he realized the Nasty Burger was directly below him. The wind blew downwards on him and his heart tugged him to take a look. His eyes shut softly as he drifted down through the exploded roof and let his invisibility engulf him.

The Nasty burger was in shambles. Not much of anything noticeable left, and nothing of his family either. Almost as if they were never there…

The ghost boy sighed at the thought. His doubt was gone. Although he felt it from the moment he woke up all the way until the point he was at now, just being where they had departed left him smiling almost.

"At least it was quick. Good."  
He smiled and began tearing up. The orphan fell to his knees and sobbed as the sudden rush of emotion disrupted his ghost half and left him as a human boy.

"Hey kid."

Danny turned to see two officers at the door with crossed arms.  
"This is a dangerous area! Could collapse any second."

The boy let his head droop again as he wiped the tears from his eyes on his arm letting the cops exchanged nervous glances and pulled the boy to his feet.

The emotions he held were odd…anything could hit him and he wouldn't care. The city could vanish from existence and he wouldn't spare any sympathy, and yet it was...calm…  
For the moment, the scenery passed him by like a movie and he felt like his body was moving by a strange force ushering him to continue on.

He rubbed the back of his head absentmindedly and realized that something was missing… all that he knew, was that the Nasty Burger exploded, his friends and family were gone, and that someone was to blame. He yanked his arm away from the officers angrily and ran down the street.

The cops ran to their car and jiggled the keys frantically to start up the ignition.

Danny ran as fast as he possibly could towards Fenton Works, silently thanking everyone in Amity for leaving the streets clear. He took a spontaneous right turn leaving the cops skidding on the road.

He turned his head around quickly to make sure the cops were okay then turned back satisfied to the road above him, at his house which was now in view.

"I'm going-"

His signature battle cry was cut short by a backup cop car smacking him in the ribs and banging his head on the brick wall of his home as the halfa's body fell to the ground in a heap as he fell unconscious once again…

"What?"

His voice echoed through the darkness like he was enclosed in a small room, but walking proved it was nothing of the sort. He raised his hand to create a light only to realize his powers weren't working at all.

"Hello Danny."

--

A/N: Yeah, poorly edited… *again* I'm ashamed of myself! Lol anyways, please R&R!!! Life and Death Decisioins will be updated within the next week…yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….. lol

R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R&R


	5. Chapter 4 Rue

Val stepped to the door of Danny's hospital room holding a bouquet of flowers and a news paper ad. The huntress stared at the white undecorated door, talking to no one in particular. "How are you Danny, you know that ghost hunter that's been saving the town, that's me." Smacking herself with the newspaper she composed herself again and continued.

"Danny, I tried to stop Phantom from killing your family but he was too diabolical and oh yeah I'm the huntress that's been defending the town for the past who knows how long." Angrily the smacked her forehead and brought her hand down her scowling face. Valerie grabbed the doorknob and thrusted the door open to get her awkward speech over with.

"Danny I-"

The huntress looked at the bed as horror fell across her face.

Danny's unconscious face, now white as it could humanly be, his smile that always seemed to be there, was now nearly lifeless.

"Danny!" Valerie dropped the flowers and ran towards Danny, only meeting the arms of a doctor towering over him. "It's all my fault" She sniffled. "If only I had stopped that ghost…none of this would ever have happened."

Tears filled her eyes as her nearly limp body was shuffled out of the room with an assistants arm wrapped around her shoulders soothingly.

Danny laid motionless under the careful watch of the doctors towering over him. The holes in the walls and floor from the battle with Skulker were patched haphazardly with wood and nails, as there were no more intensive care rooms where the boy could be alone.

As the various hospital employees left the room, the sleeping halfa was lost in the darkness he could never separate himself from.

Time ticked away as the as the doctors did who knows what to him. All she could do is worry, completely confused of what was wrong and how he got there.

Valerie watched as the doctors finally left the to get her chance to sneak into Danny's room, after checking her watch and tapping her foot at an accelerated rate as time ticked by slow. Tip toeing, and holding her breath, she made her way over and gently twisted the door knob to create no noise whatsoever, and made her way to the boy she was so fond of.

His steady breathing brought a small smile to Val's face as she pulled up a chair and sat next to him.

* * *

Danny stood up and felt his head. Seemed everything was where it was supposed to be, minus the fact he couldn't see anything at all. He raised his right hand and gathered concentrated his ectoplasmic energy to create a light, which also failed. The teen stood silently as an invisible being smirked in the darkness.

"Hello!" Danny cupped his hands to his mouth, not even granted hearing his plea for human, or even ghost, contact.

With no sight to aid him, he pulled at his jumpsuit, squinted and concentrated on turning back to normal, as if it could solve the problem. The light of his transformation even unable to be seen by him dissolved as quickly as it had appeared and took all his energy in one gulp.

"Where am I?" He muttered, still not used to his lack of senses.

* * *

Valerie gripped his hand and looked as far as she could into his closed eyes as she could. "Danny come on…."

* * *

A pair of red eyes suddenly became visible, Danny looked straight forward, mesmerized by them. Suddenly, he found them right in front of his face, and then could see 'him'.

His skin was tan, eyes red, hair white, dressed in his normal clothes. His reflection smiled as the original caught on.

"You!"

"Yes, me, in other words, you." He smirked showing razor sharp fangs.

"What is going on-AAAH!!" 'Danny' thrusted an ecto black in the originals stomach, sending him flying across the void, traveling until being caught by the red eyed Danny.

"Don't be weak." The reflection punched him in the jaw upwards.

* * *

"Danny!!!"

Valerie took him in her arms and hugged him sniffling before he could even sit up the full way.

"I'm so sorry…"

"I was trying to go to Wisconsin."

"Wisconsin?!"

Danny looked over at her seriously and continued. "Yeah. I have a hunch on who's behind all of this."

Valerie bit her lip at the statement, she was the one to blame, in the least Danny shouldn't have to go on a futile wild goose chase!

"Listen, Danny…"

"No Val." He pulled his arm away from her and looked down at his sheets.

"I know I may seem crazy, but I just lost my family, and I'm not stopping until I find out who did it."

The halfa looked over at Valerie confidently and frowned. "I at least have to do it for them."

After a moment, he went to an empty bed beside him, pulling the curtain closed and changing into the clothes he wore on the night of the accident within a few seconds. He looked as any boy would after a horrible experience, like an escaped mental patient to be pretty exact. Styling his hair with his hands to be acceptable in public, he shoved chocolates and sweets from his get well soon box into his school backpack and gripped the doorknob.

"Wait Danny…you can't just leave! You're sick!"

The teen looked over at Valerie in the same expression he's worn since he knew what happened.

"I can't stay here…I have something I have to do…"

The door clicked shut behind him as wide eyed Valerie stood like a statue in the middle of the room for a moment till deciding to go after him.

"Danny!"

Even the nurses who littered the hallways were gone, almost like a morgue.

"Oh Danny…" She muttered.

* * *

Reappearing behind a brick wall, Danny threw his bag over his shoulder and curiously walked over to an electronics store across the street. The window was littered with geeks and passerby's as a familiar news lady smiled and shuffled the papers in her hands on the variety of television screens.

"Amity Park is devastated today after the Nasty Burger explosion late last night, leaving only one known survivor. We here at the studio send out our condolences to Danny Fenton, for the loss of Jack and Maddie Fenton, their daughter Jasmine, and Casper High students Tucker Foley and Sam cause of the accident was ruled to have been caused by the overheating sauce tank by the firefighters called to the scene. Meanwhile, Nasty Burger executives are worried about Mr. Fenton's decision to press legal charges."

"Why would I do that?" He muttered. "Wasn't their fault."

"Onto more important news." The newscaster said smiling. "Our yearly winter parade will be featuring Chip Skylark to sing his hit song, 'Icky Vicky'."

Danny's jaw dropped a bit before stomping off before the bystanders could give him any sympathetic looks. He shoved his hands in his pocket and kicked a rock, which then bounced off the stop sign and hit him on the forehead with enough force to knock him on the ground.

"Oww…"

"DANIEL FENTON!" An angry voice shouted from no more than 10 feet away from him.

Looking upside down, he saw a fuming Pamela Manson, fists clenched, seething with anger, her husband, and his ex-best friend's parents.

Still on the ground, Danny muttered in agony. "Oh no."

* * *

Dressed in a pastel pink shirt and blue jeans, the smirking billionaire walked into his castle with a gold club slung over his shoulder.

"This is kind of heavy, you wouldn't mind taking this too hmm?" He said slyly.

"Y-yes Mister Masters." A voice squeaked.

"Well good!" Vlad said in a quite good mood, throwing his club out front door.

"YEEOW!"

"Sorry!" The elder halfa shouted walking further in the house. "You can just set them in the gym."

"Y-yes..sir…"

Clunking at each step, a man no more than 5 feet in height made his way through the front door, club clenched in his mouth, and 6 golf bags packed with them thrown over his back and arms. The millionaire gave a chuckle as the man made his way up multiple flights of stairs and out of sight.

Obviously in a good mood, Vlad pulled out the days paper and sipped quietly on his tea.

"A landslide victory in an unfair golf game against a world champion to be used against him in the future, packers winning again, nothing could truly spoil this day."

Vlad smirked and turned on the over sized television to his regular business station, emitting glee.

"-the Nasty Burger's unstable sauce has always been under the watchful eyes of what the fast food chain calls 'Nastronauts', but is now being reinvestigated for a possible trial in the near future-"

"Bah I don't care about teenage hangouts and their health problems." Sneering he picked up the remote and pointed it at the TV and clicked it off.

* * *

Pamela Manson's heels tapped the ground as she walked angrily towards the emotionally wrecked teenager, yet managing to still have a peace of mind to hold her dress up from dragging as she marched over and yank him up by his shirt.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SAMMYKINS! I knew you would just be a bad influence! Why didn't I stop her from hanging out with filthy BOYS when she should be doing pageants and shopping like a normal girl!"

The other parents started to pull her growling and kicking off of Danny, her nails almost growing and eyes flaming.

"If only Samantha didn't sneak out for YOU! She would be shopping for dresses with me."

"Heh heh. I know this is a bad time to say this, but that would never have happened."

"Good lie coming from the reason she's gone!"

That comment shook Danny a bit harder that expected. "My fault?" His body fell limp as he said it.

"If only you could have accepted my daughters help to study, instead of taking the easy route like the no good boy you are! My Sammykins was going to grow up to BE someone!"

"It was my fault?"

* * *

Once again, wrote without editing.

I'm gonna regret this later xD

If anyone has any interest to be a beta for me (I guess it's called) that would be uber awesome xD

A/N: Wow I don't like angst but I put a lot of it in my fics! Hard to make one revolving around TUE with frolicking puppies though. Maybe I'll give poor Danny some support…my roughie was pretty angsty. Had to redo it all together. Hard to work with how I ended the last chapter. I should really work ahead……….and change the last chapters ending…..eventually…………………

As for my absence, totally my fault xD

I definitely won't abandon this story, it flows pretty well and I got most of it planned out, so once I bring up my horrid grades, should be updated more often.

Authors note for Life and Death Decisions:

I love the concept to death, but I want the story to back up the idea of Dan being human, since I haven't seen any fanfics like that. I won't be updating that for a while, in a month if I really push at it, but I'm trying to write it all out first.

To my reviewers and readers, thanks for reading to this point! Like in anything, people lose interest over time, and anyone who has stayed with either of my fics up to this point, thank you so much. Although most stories with this many words have more reviews, I'm just happy that people actually want to read this, or anticipate the next chapter. Without reviews I'd probably abandon this.

~Thank you


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